Children found strangled in flat

POLICE were yesterday questioning a woman whose two children were found strangled in their beds, writes Andrew Gliniecki.

The children, a boy aged six and a girl aged five, were found at a flat in Maple Close, Tottenham, north London.

Earlier this month, Tottenham police received an anonymous report of screams from the flat. Police said yesterday that they called at the address and spoke to a woman and saw a child. They found no sign of disturbance.

Police were alerted to the deaths on Saturday when a woman entered Stoke Newington police station at 4.30pm and said she had murdered two children. Officers went to the flat and found the children dead in their beds.

Gas pipes had been tampered with and the block of flats was briefly evacuated. A post-mortem examination revealed that the children had died from strangulation and asphyxiation. Gas did not appear to have contributed to their deaths.

The children's father, who is estranged from the 23-year-old mother, was told of their deaths yesterday. It is understood the family had been in contact with social services.

A neighbour, Seza Tezgal, said her son Erkan, four, went to Craven Park school with the dead children. 'They used to all play out the front of the flat. They were such sweet children,' she said.

Police said they were not looking for anyone else in connection with the deaths.